Game Notes The Celtics host the Milwaukee Bucks for the 3rd and final meeting this season. The Celtics won the first meeting 112-108 in Milwaukee in overtime on January 28 without both Avery Bradley and Al Horford. The Celtics lost 103-100 in Boston on March 29th when Malcolm Brogdon converted a turnover by Isaiah into a game winning 3 pointer.

Both teams have won their last 2 games and are looking to end the season with a 3 game win streak. The Celtics are 7-3 in their last 10 games while the Bucks are 6-4 in their last 10. The Celtics are 29-11 at home while the Bucks are 19-21 on the road.

The Celtics moved in to first in the East with their win over the Nets and the Cavs loss to the Heat. On Tuesday night, the Hawks beat the Hornets to lock up the 5th seed and at the same time to lock the Bucks in to 6th. The Raptors are locked in to the 3rd seed and the Wizards are 4th. This sets up 2 first round matchups with the Hawks at the Wizards and the Bucks at the Raptors. The 1st and 2nd seeds and the 7th and 8th seeds are still to be decided.

The Bucks are locked into the 6th seed and have their first round matchup set and so they have nothing to play for in this game. Antetokounmpo, Delavadova, Middleton, and Snell did not make the trip to Boston and will sit out this game. Jabari Parker is out with a knee injury. The Celtics should be at full strength and haven't said anything as of yet about resting any players. They should play everyone because they haven't had that much time recently with everyone available.

Standings Reset Raptors are locked into 3, Wizards are locked into 4, Hawks are locked into 5 and Bucks are locked into 6 The Celtics remain #1 with the Cavs 1 game behind. The Celtics simply need to win this game to finish with the top seed. At the bottom, Indiana is #7, 1 game ahead of Chicago, who is currently #8. Miami is #9 and tied with Chicago, with Chicago owning the tie breaker. Games to Watch - Toronto at Cleveland, Washington at Miami, Brooklyn at Chicago, Atlanta at Indiana.

Key Matchups vs Isaiah Thomas vs Malcolm BrogdonThis one is personal for both players. Isaiah should still be stinging from the game winner that Brogdon made in his face in their 3/29 loss to the Bucks. Brogdon expected the Celtics to pick him in the draft with one of their 8 draft picks and wants to prove that they made the wrong decision to pass on him. Brogdon had 16 points and 9 assists in that game.

vs Amir Johnson vs Michael BeasleyBeasley for some reason always seems to play well against the Celtics and so it will be important to slow him down and keep him from having a big game.

Honorable MentionKelly Olynyk vs Greg MonroeMonroe is a former starter coming off the bench and will be a challenge for Kelly (or Jonas or whoever) to guard. He is averaging 11.9 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists off the bench. In the first meeting between these two teams he finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds.

Keys to the Game Defense - Defense is always a key to winning. The defense of the Celtics has been up and down this season and with the playoffs on the horizon, it's time for every player to lock into playing the best team defense they can. They have had one of the best defenses in the league at times since the All Star break and they have the top rated defense in the 4th quarter. They must come out with a defensive mindset and make that their priority.

Run! - The Celtics are very effective when they run on every possession and run on defense as well. They need to run on offense to get easy shots before the defenses get set up. They also need to run on defense to get set up to prevent the Bucks from getting easy baskets.

Take Care of the Ball - The Celtics need to make careful passes and take care not to allow the Bucks to force turnovers. This also includes hitting their shots and making the extra pass to find the open man. At times the Celtics seem to lose focus and turn the ball over too much. They must keep their focus and value every possession.

Rebound - The Celtics can't score if they don't have the ball. The Celtics struggle at times to rebound and so they are going to have to work to win the battle of the boards. It takes effort to rebound and when the Celtics put out that extra effort to get rebounds, it usually translates to other areas of their game. Be Aggressive - The Celtics have to be the more aggressive team from start to finish. They have to be aggressive in going after loose balls and on defense and going to the basket and grabbing rebounds. The more aggressive team usually gets the benefit of the calls also. They need to be the team that wants it more for all 48 minutes. No let up.

X-Factors Resting Players - The Bucks are resting their normal starters and so it should be easier for the Celtics to get a win. However, if Brad Stevens decides to rest some of his players, then it evens the playing field much more.

Focus and Motivation - With the Celtics in first place, it's hard to picture them losing focus in a very winnable game. However, we have seen them face teams at less than full strength and then put out less than full effort on the court. The Celtics need to draw energy from the home crowd and keep their focus on playing their game. If the Celtics win this game, they can avoid the Cavs, Raptors and Bucks in the first 2 rounds and secure home court advantage through the Eastern Conference Finals. That seems like enough motivation to make them play their best.

Officiating - The officiating is always an x-factor. Whether because of the tendencies of individual refs, or an agenda on behalf of the refs or the league, each game is officiated differently and that can favor or throw a team off on any given night. The Celtics have to be able to shake off bad calls and just play their game.

Last game of the season, but not the last game thread! Thanks flc and a tp as ever.

Celtics win this one big time and clinch the best record in the east. Life is good.

Goooooooooooooooooooo first place Celtics!

Logged

I believe Gandhi is the only person who knew about real democracy — not democracy as the right to go and buy what you want, but democracy as the responsibility to be accountable to everyone around you. Democracy begins with freedom from hunger, freedom from unemployment, freedom from fear, and freedom from hatred. - Vandana Shiva

Going to the game tonight with the best tickets of my life, was excited to see the Greek Freek after forking over a couple hundred dollars (not a small # for me). While I'm not upset that the Celtics should roll into playoffs with the #1 seed, it is a little bit of a let down that we won't get a real revenge game against Milwaukee.

Do I blame Kidd for wanting to rest his players? No.

Do I think that Adam Silver was right to call out coaches for resting players before the playoffs? Hell yeah. Milwaukee's team is going to be a joke tonight.

Oh well, Let's go Celtics. Hopefully they beat hell out of them so we can give our guys a rest as well.

I understand why the Bucks are resting players for the playoffs ... can anyone explain to me the phenomenon of non-playoff teams resting their players? The Nets "resting" Brook Lopez and Jeremy Lin, in a game that could decided the final playoff spot? Sacramento, Denver, New Orleans, etc., all resting players ... for November?

I understand why the Bucks are resting players for the playoffs ... can anyone explain to me the phenomenon of non-playoff teams resting their players? The Nets "resting" Brook Lopez and Jeremy Lin, in a game that could decided the final playoff spot? Sacramento, Denver, New Orleans, etc., all resting players ... for November?

They don't want a bad injury like a torn acl going into the offseason, ruining the trade value of their top players. Also, they can get a good look at players they have to make a decision on for next season.

Last game of the season, but not the last game thread! Thanks flc and a tp as ever.

Celtics win this one big time and clinch the best record in the east. Life is good.

Goooooooooooooooooooo first place Celtics!

One of my favorite Celtics teams of all time and the team that drew me into being a Celtics fan, the 1969 Celtics went into the playoffs as the 4th seed and won it all so the 4th seed is pretty good in my opinion. TP

I always said when I left the Celtics, I could not go to heaven, because that would be a step down. I am pure 100 percent Celtic. I think if you slashed my wrists, my blood would’ve been green. - Bill "Greatest of All Time" Russell